My mother always told me if you found a man who showed emotion during a difficult time, he was one to lock down.
“Dammit, Cyrus. I thought I lost you,” Corbin said, rubbing his eye with the back of his hand.
Cyrus laughed. “Not yet. I see you met Imogen. Beautiful, meet my brother.”
I grinned, still happy with their display. “Yeah, it was kind of easy to figure that out.”
“Everyone says I’m the more handsome of the two of us,” Cyrus said, and while I agreed completely, I kept my mouth closed.
“Only because he offers them money,” Corbin chimed back, falling into a brotherly banter. “Do you like the sandals?” he asked when his gaze fell to my feet.
I wiggle my toes in them. “I do. Thank you.” You don’t realize how much you need shoes or miss them until you have to walk around barefoot. A good pair of shoes could change your life and outlook on everything. I hadn’t heard Cyrus tell his brother we needed shoes, but it was one of the first things Bennett brought for me. That and a light jacket to put over my bikini shirt.
Somewhere along the line, Cyrus lost his tux shirt, and even though it was stained with blood and so unlike him, I missed it.
He no longer looked like a hungover man on the run, wearing his truck stop T-shirt and the gym workout shorts. He’d returned to when I first met him but cleaner. A nice pair of dark-washed jeans and the baby blue polo shirt with one side sleeve raised higher so it didn’t rub against his cut made it look as if he was ready to board a ship. Cyrus could be an Abercrombie and Fitch model. He fit the carefree vibe so well they would’ve put him on one of their large in-store banners.
The two brothers were chatting adamantly, and I only started paying attention when I heard the word Pelican Bay mentioned.
“I have a setup in a secure hotel nearby and we have more medical staff on hand so we can get you extra fluids.”
The two brothers turned as if they were walking away, and at first I panicked, but then Cyrus leaned back and grabbed my hand in his, bringing me with them.
We only made it two steps before he stopped. “No, I don’t want to stay here tonight. Let’s get back to Maine as quickly as possible. I want both of us out of here.”
He didn’t expound on why, but I knew. We didn’t know where Bernard or his men were. How close they were to us or what they might do to get Cyrus, who they thought was Corbin, back. If they were willing to kidnap him from a mall in Maine, what stopped them from trying to attack us here? We weren’t safe yet.
Corbin turned and looked to the both of us, but his gaze fell on me more than his brother. “Can he fly?”
I looked at Cyrus. His face was no longer pale and while his eyes were tired, they were taking in the surrounding area with an alert gaze. He could fly.
As I nodded at Cyrus’s questions. “Did you bring the chopper?”
“Hell yes,” Corbin said, frowning at his brother.
Shoes, clothes, food for the homeless, and now a chopper? At that moment, the events of the last three days settled hard in my system. We’d gone from one dramatic situation right into a coordinated rescue event, and I hadn’t had a moment to gather my wits. Everything was overwhelming.
“You own a helicopter?” I asked. Cyrus mentioned he had money, and by his stories he didn’t grow up in a brick ranch in the middle-class suburb like I did, but I hadn’t realized how out of my league I was until we started talking about helicopters.
“No, we share it with a company that provides private flights. It’s cheaper than taking on the tax ramifications of having multiple choppers in different countries.”
“Oh yes, of course. Why didn’t I think of that?” I said, nodding right along like I talked about choppers and the tax incentives of not owning multiples every day.
Cyrus grinned and the handsomeness of his expression relieved some of my worry. At least for that moment. I didn’t know what happened to us once we got to Pelican Bay, but I trusted Cyrus explicitly to get me there.
“I’ll put us on the chopper tonight as long as you both promise to get an IV.”
Cyrus rolled his eyes, a sign he felt better. “I don’t need an IV.”
“Yes, you do,” I said, and Corbin gave me a fist bump. Not what I expected from the more straightlaced of the twins.
“We can hook up an IV in the helicopter and get them both at the same time,” Corbin said and began walking again to a van idling on the side of the sidewalk with its doors open. Hugh waved goodbye as he sat on a bench eating a thick sandwich.
Cyrus laughed and squeezed my fingers. “I do know how you love efficiency, Corbin.”
I had no idea what waited for us in Pelican Bay or what happened next, but I squeezed Cyrus’s fingers back and followed his brother to the van waiting to take me to my future.
CHAPTER 16
